'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
As COVID-19 continues to infect tens of thousands of Canadians every day, a Toronto doctor is worried that that could also result in an explosion of people with long-haul COVID-19 symptoms, potentially creating a "mass disabling event."
Long COVID-19, also known as post COVID-19 condition, occurs when symptoms of the disease continue to linger for weeks or months after the initial recovery period. For some patients, the symptoms are so debilitating, they're unable to work.
"Because COVID-19 is a multi-system illness, people can have extreme fatigue to the point of not being able to get out of bed or find it very hard to engage in physical activity," palliative care physician Dr. Amit Arya told CTV's Your Morning on Thursday.
Other possible long COVID-19 symptoms include cardiovascular issues, respiratory symptoms such as shortness of breath and even memory impairment.
While it's still unclear how many people with COVID-19 end up with long-term symptoms, Arya says the estimates are as low as 10 per cent to as high as one in three, citing data collected before the rise of the Omicron variant. A Lancet study from July 2021 also found that 96 per cent of people with long COVID-19 can experience symptoms for longer than three months.
"It could be even up to half a million Canadians who have experienced long COVID," he said.
Many of these people who experience long COVID-19 never require hospitalization. "We might assume that they have mild illness, but that is not the case for people who are suffering from the impacts of long COVID," Arya said.
A May 2021 survey of more than 1,000 COVID-19 long-haulers in Canada found that 60 per cent of respondents had to take time off from work due to their long-term symptoms and 69 per cent had to reduce their workload. Health Canada also says 10 per cent of those with long COVID-19 are left unable to return to work in the long term.
"The symptoms can fluctuate, but once again … there's many people who cannot return to work and may be living with a severe disability," Arya said.
Given that surging COVID-19 cases could result in an increase in the number of Canadians living with disabilities due to long-haul symptoms, Arya says it underscores the need to strengthen disability supports such as access to rehabilitation centres and social assistance.
"We're not seeing that people have access to those resources. And of course, for people with who are living with a disability, whether it's long COVID or not, we need to empower them with the resources and the tools that they need to survive this Omicron wave and beyond," he said.
Last summer, the federal government introduced Bill C-35, which would create the Canada Disability Benefit and provide a basic income support for low-income Canadians with disabilities. Disability advocates are urging the feds to fast-track the bill.
"People with disabilities cannot wait for consultations. They need to be able to pay for basic pain medications. They shouldn't have to make difficult choices in this pandemic, just because they live with a disability and are finding themselves in deep poverty,” said Rabia Khedr, national director of Disability Without Poverty, in an interview with CTV's Your Morning on Thursday.
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.
English, history, entertainment, math and geography: high school trivia teams could be quizzed on any of it when they compete at the Reach for the Top Nationals in Ottawa in June.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.